https://www.scmp.com/rss/505249/feed Rob McKenzie is a writer and editor in Abu Dhabi en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com As 2020 dawned I had an idea for an article. I wondered what it would be like to look back at the year 1010: halfway between the birth of the Common Era and now. Were people happier and wiser, or benighted and foolish? It would be fun. London’s horrible history of plagues, death and disease In February I began piecing together a draft, by which time 2020 had already got off to a lousy start. Fears had surged of imminent war in the Middle East after the US killed an Iranian general, then it... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3080365/think-2020-weird-spare-thought-1010-frozen-nile-giants-killer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3080365/think-2020-weird-spare-thought-1010-frozen-nile-giants-killer?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Apr 2020 03:15:06 +0000 As fate would have it, in the past month I have travelled to Italy as the coronavirus was accelerating from nuisance to epidemic; Hong Kong, where the virus has been held in check; Malaysia, where numbers were less stable than appearances suggested; and the UAE, still in the early stages of the virus. Reflecting on these experiences, my impression is that the public in these countries is at various stages of a journey from annoyance to denial to shock and acceptance. After my snapshot visits I... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3075449/what-my-coronavirus-tour-taught-me-hong-kong-stoic-italy-laughs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3075449/what-my-coronavirus-tour-taught-me-hong-kong-stoic-italy-laughs?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2020 00:15:13 +0000